Good Samaritan Rescue Mission's Amazing Race for Rescue brings out the best in Bay City

Lathan Goumas | The Bay City Times After completing an obstacle course at Paramount Rehabilitation Center in Bay City, participants in the 2011 Amazing Race for Rescue receive their next clue and run to their car. At each stop, teams performed activities in order to win the next clue and move ahead.

BAY CITY, MI — For two years, Anderson Bearden has been racing around Bay City in a quest for donations.

"The first year I drove, but my friend won't let me anymore," Bearden said. "I was squealing the tires too much."

Good Samaritans like Bearden will unite on Sept. 22 to compete for a $1,000 grand prize in the third annual Amazing Race for Rescue, presented by the Catholic Federal Credit Union.

Registration is open for the event where a team of four players uses clues from businesses to complete tasks, based on CBS’s “The Amazing Race.” The $160 cost covers T-shirts as well as four tickets for a 7 p.m. dinner provided at the finish line.

“It’s like being a detective for the day,” said rally Director Mary Rathke. “It’s different for everyone; some people who play get a kick out of figuring the clues; some like driving through town to find the quickest way to get to a spot.”

Entry forms are available at any Bay City or Essexville Catholic Federal Union branch. Players must be 18 to participate, and at least one player from each team should plan to attend a mandatory meeting Aug. 28 at the Good Samaritan Rescue Mission in Bay City.

Over the past two years, 290 participants have helped gather supplies and raise money for the mission, which benefits the homeless and provides for scholarships.

“I drove past it every day and had no idea it was even there,” said Bearden, who has since started volunteering at the mission with his church.

“All of the sponsors are in the race. It will refer to a tagline or product they sell, so you have to figure out that clue to know where to go. When you arrive there, you do the activity the store owner has set up. Once you accomplish that task, you get the clue for the next place,” Rathke explained.

Bearden and his wife, Kristen, are fans of “The Amazing Race”, which inspired their participation in this event. This will be their third year competing in the Race for Rescue.

“We thought it sounded like an adventure,” Bearden said. “I love the way it is set up. Our team will look at the sponsors and have a spreadsheet of where they are and their motto, that kind of stuff.”

The Race for Rescue is accepting sponsors as well as participants, with more than 20 teams signed up.

Each business offers something for participants to try. Previous tasks include eating an entire peanut butter sandwich, running an obstacle course and trying to find a way out of a corn maze.

“There is always a task or two done at the mission; it’s such a moving experience to be in there and see what they are doing, the people who are there and what they go through,” Bearden said. “It’s by far the best part of the race.”

Bearden’s team has donated more than $1,000 dollars to the Mission, as well as $300 worth of supplies.

“One of the things I’ve done working at Davenport (University) is encourage our student groups to volunteer, and I am encouraging members in my office to put a team together,” Bearden said.

Teams earn bonus time by selling tickets for the finish line, which includes dinner, cash bar, prizes and a silent auction. Each ticket costs $25 and earns the team a three-minute head start. Tickets and silent auction items must be turned in by Sept. 17.

“It’s a celebration of the work being done,” Bearden said, “a nice evening to relax with the rest of the teams, friends and family after the hectic pace of the race.”

After contributing more than $27,000 in the last two years, the goal for donations will be $15,000 for the third annual race. Participants have donated more than 400 pounds of food, 33 children’s coats and 250 rolls of toilet paper.

“The main goal is for the awareness of the mission,” Rathke said. “It has definitely raised the awareness in people talking about how they can help.”